Monthly Archives: May 2016

Title: Harold and the Purple CrayonAuthor: Crockett JohnsonSeries: N/ARecommended for:Pages: 239Call Number/Link: E JOHNSSynopsis: One nightHarold decides to take a walk in the moon light with his purple crayon. Go on an adventure with Harold and his purple crayon in this imagination filled classic.Review: Let Harold and his purple crayon take you on an adventure filled with dragons, hot air balloons and pie! In a world of technological distractions this book is a great way to remind us all to have fun and use our imagination. There are quite a few books in this series that are just as fun as the original.

Dumped by her best friend, Dani, who suddenly wants to spend eighth grade “hanging out with different people.”

Deserted by her mom, who’s in the hospital recovering from a suicide attempt.

Trapped in a house with her dad, a new baby sister, and a stepmother young enough to wear her Delta Delta Delta sweatshirt with pride.

Stuck at a lunch table with Shawna the Eyebrow Plucker and Sarabeth the Irish Stepper because she has no one else to sit with.

But what if all isn’t lost? What if Anna’s mom didn’t exactly mean to leave her? What if Anna’s stepmother is cooler than she thought? What if the misfit lunch table isn’t such a bad fit after all?

With help from some unlikely sources, including a crazy girl-band talent show act, Anna just may find herself on the road to okay.

My review: This one got off to a shaky start, but it got better as it went. I love how it handled mental illness (in this case bipolar two) and how a child would deal with it. It was very realistic approach and especially liked all the times she thought back on how her mom did something odd and if the illness had caused that or not. And of course, there were plenty of feelings of abandonment and she tried to figure out how to deal with this new diagnoses (up from depression) and her mother’s attempted suicide.

Friend also touches on divorce and how awkward she feels in her father’s new family, especially sine she thinks like the new wife is a betrayal to her mother. But the more time she allows Marnie (step-mom) in, the more she starts to like/accept her. The trip to Atlanta was great because it showed Anna that you could be spontaneous without going overboard. Plus, it was a good experience for her to get away/bond with Marnie.

And if that wasn’t enough, she has to deal with being dumped by her best friend as she climbs the social ladder. At first, this is devastating, but she hooks up with a group of “outcasts” and really finds her place. It’s fun watching Anna grow with these new group of friends and really seems to find her stride by the end.

All in all, a great realistic novel that should easily been giving to teens who life the tougher issues w/o a lot of sex talk.

Synopsis: In the year 2054, after decades of gender selection, India now has a ratio of five boys for every girl, making women an incredibly valuable commodity. Tired of marrying off their daughters to the highest bidder and determined to finally make marriage fair, the women who form the country of Koyanagar have instituted a series of tests so that every boy has the chance to win a wife.

Sudasa doesn’t want to be a wife, and Contestant Five, a boy forced to compete in the test to become her husband, has other plans as well. Sudasa’s family wants nothing more than for their daughter to do the right thing and pick a husband who will keep her comfortable—and caged. Five’s family wants him to escape by failing the tests. As the tests advance, Sudasa and Five thwart each other at every turn until they slowly realize that they just might want the same thing.

Review: This is a great one to give to reluctant readers who are looking for something dystopian. While it is almost 250, most of the book is in verse. It definitely an interesting concept of how gender selection can harm a country. It touches both on both genders being valued and how eventually both ways will screw up the system. And while everything seemed to be fair/even/just, there were still ways to work the system. Bribery was still in play and a “good girl” followed the rules and picked the “wealthy/better” contestant. I do like how Sudasa, and even her family, kind of helped her thwart the system in the end.